Operating mechanism for soaking pit covers



May 17, 1960 H. F. SPENCER OPERATING MECHANISM FOR soAxING PIT covERs Filed Aug. 22, 1956 5 Sheets-Shea?I 1 H nu May 17, 1960 H. F. SPENCER 2,936,906

OPERATING MECHANISM FOR SOAKING PIT COVERS y Filed Aug. 22, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 17, 1960 H. F. SPENCER OPERATING MECHANISM FOR SOAKING PIT COVERS Filed A'ug. 22, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. #vwl 'Sflm BY 774.664 /-M a 2,936,906 ice .Patented May 17, 1960 2,936,906 n OPERATING MEcHAN-ISMYFOR soAKING rrr covERs Howard F. Spencer, Evans City, Pa.' Y Application August 22, 1956, Serial No. 605,600 1 Claim. (Cl. 2124-4) This invention relates to new and useful improvements y in.operating mechanism for soaking pit covers and 1t is among the objects thereof to provide cover operating mechanism which, while a component pant of a. plurality of soaking pit cover operating mechanisms, is an independent unit which, together with a system of railwayV tracks and transfer cars, can serve a large number of soaking pits, thereby eliminating the cost of separate power units for each cover, as in conventional practice.

lt is among the objects of the invention toprovide a i soaking pit cover carriage power car which shall be adapted to be coupled with a soaking pit cover and carriage to lift the cover and remove it to expose the uncovered soaking pit for charging or removing ingots.

flt is a yfurther object of this invention to provide a soaking pit cover carriage power car"which shall be adapted to operate on a series of tracks arranged with the soaking pits to move in a direction parallel with la row of furnaces and in another direction to and away from the Yfurnaces whereby a single power car can service a plurality of furnaces.

It is yet another object ofthe invention to provide an arrangement of soaking pit cover carriages 'and power car whereby a single operator can service a large number of soaking pit furnaces in an expedient manner.

Another object of the invention isrto provide soaking pit cover operating mechanism in which the mechanical and electrical parts are isolated from the heat when not in cover operating position, and it is still a further object of this invention to provide electrically operated soaking pit cover mechanism in which power. cable, winding reels, conductors and the like, are eliminated.

These and other objects ofthe invention will become more apparent from a consideration of the accompanying drawings constituting a part hereof in which like reference characters designate like parts and in which:

'Figure 1 is a top plan view of a soaking pit cover and power carriage;

Figure 2, an end elevation sectional view taken along the line 2-2, Figure 1; v

Figure 3, a side elevational View taken along the line 3-3, Figure 1; p

rFigure 4, a side elevational view, partially in crosssection, taken along the line 4-4, Figure 1; and,

IFigure 5, a top plan view diagrammatically illustrating a plurality of soaking pits aligned in a row and a system of railway tracks for a power car.

With reference to Figure 5 of the drawing, numerals 1, 2 and 3 designate three separate soaking pit furnaces marked group A, there being additional groups B, C, D, E and F of three of such furnaces shown all in a single row. lEach of the furnaces is adjacent a pair of rails 4 and 5 on which a power car 6 is operable, the tracks 4 and 5 crossing rail tracks 7 and 8. Numerals 9 and diagrammatically illustrate soaking pit building crane and building columns and lean-to-columns respectively.

-The furnace walls and covers of the furnaces 1, 2 and 5 are more clearly shown in Figure 2, the numeral 11 designating a division wall of a soaking pit furnace which may be provided with channels 12 for receiving sand to seal covers 13 when they are lowered thereon. The

' covers 13 are constructed of metal I-beams or channels 13a that support refractory brick 13b mounted thereon,

which construction is no partof the present invention. Y The frames of covers 13 are suspended by links 14 and v15 connected by trunnions 16 and 17 to the I or channel members 17a of covers 13. Links 14 and 15 are mounted on'levers 18 and 19, respectively, which are secured to shafts 20 and 21 having cranks 22 and 23 connected by links 24 and 25 to eccentrics 26 and 27 operated by drive shaft 28 extending from a transmission or gear reduction' unit 29. The cranks and linkage is more clearly shown in Figure l ofthe drawing.

-The shafts 20 and 21 and the eccentric hoisting mecha-y nism thus described is mounted on a rectangular frame 30 with cross supports 31, 31a and 31b that is suspended from bearings 32 and 33 journaling wheelaxles 34 and 35 having wheels 316 and 37,. respectively, that travel'onas is shown in Figure yl of the drawing. When the carriage is moved to the position where the wheels abut the stop V41, the furnace opening 11b, Figure 3, is entirely exposed and heatedingots may be withdrawn from the pit-like furnace chamber,l or cold ingots charged therein by means of conventional hoists, ingot charging crane and tongs.

The cover carriage and` hoist herein above referred to vis in conventional practice, provided with a drive motor for operating thehoist mechanism through the gear reduction or transmission unit 29, Figures 1, 2 and 4. In Aaccordance with the present invention, a separate power car is employed to operate the hoist transmission 29. The power car is shown in Figures l and 4 of the drawing and consists of a carriage 45 having pillow block bearings 46 on which are pivotally mounted bell crank levers 47 carrying shafts 48 on which are mounted flanged wheels y49 that ride on the spur tracks constituted by the rails 4 and 5, vFigure l, that serve the individual furnace covers. Frame 45 is provided with a sub-frame 50 having bearings 51 for journaling axles having flanged wheels 52 that ride on the common track constituted by the rails 7 and 8. The Wheels 49 and 52. are selectively raised and lowered by a pair of `operating cylinders 53 having piston rods 54, the ends of which are connected to the bell crank levers 47 at 55. When the cylinders 53 are energized to extend their pistons outwardly, the wheels 49 are raised while the Wheels 52 are lowered. The power car is thus set to operate on the common rails 7 and 8 until it is aligned with `rails 4 and 5 of one of the spur tracks leading to the furnace. By operating cylinders 53 to cause the piston to travel in the reverse direction, wheels 49 arerlowered on the spur tracks 4 and 5 and the power car may approach the furnace cover with which it is in alignment.

. As shown in Figures 1 and 4, the gear reduction or transmission mechanism 29 is provided with a drive shaft 56 having a spline end 57 that is adapted to be engaged by spline member on a shaft 58. The drive shaft 55 is driven by motor 60 through transmission or gear reduction mechanism l61 to which the motor 60 is slidingly mounted on drive shaft 58 connected by a belt 62. A coupling sleeve 63 is in alignment with the spline end 57 of shaft 56 so that when the power car is moved toward the cover member, automatic coupling of the spline member 57 with the drive member 58 is effected.

Extending from the power car frame 45 is an arm 64 having an automatic coupler 65 adapted to engage the cover plate `67 by which thecover carriage is moved'on the track 38, Figure 3, Iafter the cover has been lifted from its seal on top of the furnace walls 11 and 11a. The coupler may be manually released by the operator in a well known manner.

The power car is propelled by a motor 63, gear reduction unit 69 and transmission mechanism 70, and the motors 60 and 68 are electrically connected through a control generally designated by the numeral 71 having operating lever 72 for energizing the' motors from a source vbracket 75 of the power car.

lThe operation of the above-described mechanism is brieiiy as follows: I

The power car is movable along the common track constituted by the rails 7 and 8 on the wheels 52, and may be moved in alignment with any one of the spur tracks 4 and 5 for operating the cover of any of the furnaces 1, 2, 3, etc., in the row of furnaces shown in Figure 5.

When the power car is lowered on the wheels 49, it is operated to bring it to one of the furnace covers and coupler 65 and 66 engage the extension 67 of the cover carriage. The coupling sleeve 63 guides the spline end 57 of the cover hoist shaft 56 for engagement with the shaft 58 and when motor 60 is energized, the cover hoist mechanism is operated to raise the cover by the links 14 and 15 to unseat from the sealed end 12 of the furnace walls. The power car is then retracted on the spur track to move the cover carriage on the track 38 until wheel 37 yabuts the stop 41. This leaves the top of the furnace exposed for charging or discharging ingots. When the ingots are charged, the cover is replaced, the transmission 61 is operated to lower the furnace cover yto rest on the Walls 11 and 11a, and the power car is then uncoupled 4 By means of the power car and track arrangement herein shown, a single car with power unit or drive mechanisms may be employed to service a large number of soaking pit cover operating mechanisms, thereby saving a very substantial investment in equipment, whereas in conventional practice, each of the cover hoists is provided with its own power mechanism such as a motor and a gear reduction unit. Also, the power car with a single operator will be more ecient in the handling of the soaking pit furnace covers and carriages because of the simple coupling operations of the power unit to the cover hoist mechanism and the clamping fingers to the cover carriage plate.

Although one embodiment of the invention has' been herein described and illustrated, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in the details of construction without departing from the principles herein set forth.

I'claim:

In a soaking pit cover operating power car system, 'a plurality of soaking pits arranged in line each having a cover suspended from a carriage movable between xed limit stops on rails above said pits, a transfer track for a power car parallel with said line of pits, spur tracks connecting said transfer track and extending to each of said pits and beingvdisposed parallel with said cover rails, and a power car having a set of retractable Wheels for rolling movement over said transfer track and a second set of retractable wheels for rolling movement over said spur tracks, said cover carriages having hoists including a drive shaft for raising said covers and said power car having a power drive for coupling with said hoist drive shafts and having gripping means for engaging the cover carriage to move the same on its supporting rails.

References Cited in the le of this patent Y UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,374,248 Stevens Apr. 12, 1921 2,340,910 Truesdale Feb. 8, 1944 2,873,862 Cone Feb. 17, 195,9 

